AN: Ta-dah, I'm back. I decided to keep polishing my writing skills, this time working on another 'turn the canon inside out' type o' story, but using solely original characters (mostly the ones from 'Simbas Pride', plus Scar).
I will spare you the burden of reading thousands of words before finally finding out what in the name of the Great Kings is going on. So we have a sort of 'what if' situation- we imagine what would change in TLK if Simba did not kill Scar when he returned to Pride Rock. I know that there's quite a bit of fanfics like these, but I'm still willing to give it a try. Who knows, maybe you'll enjoy what my nefarious mind produces along with the story? So please rewind your tapes and imagine that TLK2:SP never happened...
Chapter 1 – The Downfall
Humiliation...
Among a few other things he really, really hated, that was probably the worst one. That revolting, repulsive feeling, so familiar, so disgustingly vivid in his distant, recent and thoroughly unbearably memories... He thought he'd gotten rid of them. He thought that his problem was solved. He could not believe just how shamefully wrong he was.
Nothing had been solved. Nothing was fine. The old scars suddenly reopened as if they had never even started to heal, causing more and more pain with even the smallest thought. And this time, the source of his own humiliation wasn't only someone else- some other annoying obstacle blocking his way. No. This time it was also himself.
His fury blinded him. The images in his head were angrily flashing over and over again like a thunderstorm.
Simba! Simba please, have mercy, I beg you...
He couldn't throw the sight of his own puny self cringling in front of Simba out of his mind. Oh, what a shameful moment for a king! A former king, to be precise. Good thing no-one saw it, but still the mere thought of his cursed cowardness made Scar frown with disgust. The hellish flash in his nephew's eyes that reflected the flames around them was frightful, true... but was it really a good enough cause to flee with a hunched tale? Of course, the lionesses were also a threat... But weren't they busy kicking the hyenas' arses at that time?
Oh, I should have beaten the living daylight out of him when I still had the chance...
Scar was consumed by the feeling of failure and self-disappointment. Now it was clear to him that the return of his brother's red-head uglier miniature required firm actions, and not only desperation in trying to talk himself out of an uncomfortable situation. Or maybe why he became afraid was because Simba wasn't the annoying cub he used to remember, instead seemingly appearing like a vision of Mufasa himself...?
RAH! Enough of this nonsense! I did try to protect myself, after all. I did try to fight him...
That was the only thing that could console him, at least a little bit. In the end, he wasn't as cowardly as the hyenas- he didn't run away. He stood up to his much younger opponent, and even gained advantage over him for a few moments. Trying to make his haunting feeling of humiliation go away, the lion meditated over the sight of his clawed paws hitting Simba's body. He didn't leave him without scars, that was a sure thing... Come to think of it, his nephew was quite a lousy fighter. Even though stress made the whole duel seem very foggy and distant now, Scar remembered that there was at least one moment in which he was practically close to ripping his opponent's throat. A shame it never happened...
Ow! Damn, my back... I can barely walk...
Yes, it was a real shame. The visions of close victory were significantly less vivid and tangible than the physical burden of his actual defeat. Scar could consider himself lucky to be alive at all- the moment Simba threw him over the edge of Pride Rock, he almost felt that his little flight would end up as a one-way trip to the afterlife. He wasn't sure if he preferred the way things really happened... Scar had suffered from backaches for as long as he could remember, but that was nothing in comparison to his present state. He didn't even want to trouble himself with wondering how bad it really was, at least for now. He just tried to cope with the pain and keep on walking, even if he was leaving a bloody trail behind him. He felt bruises all over, but perhaps was lucky enough not to have any broken limbs despite maybe a rib or two... Not everything was fully in order inside, however. Again, he just preferred not to occupy his mind with it for now...
He was heading towards the hunting grounds far into the savanna- probably the only place he could go right now. To be honest, he wasn't fully sure if he was going in the proper way- he simply strayed among the dried up grasses in the direction close to the hunting grounds, having Pride Rock a long way behind his back. His severe injury and pretty unstable state of spirit caused him to depend more on his instincts than his senses.
They're all dead, anyway...
He was repeating that over and over again. He knew he was forsaken in the eyes of his former pridemembers, so he enjoyed the thought that without him they were doomed for annihilation.
But wait a minute. Were they doomed for annihilation?
Oh, but of course they were. The drought was really severe, Sarabi had just informed him that the herds had left for good. The Pridelands were dry and deserted...
Err, were they?
Scar snapped out of his trance for a second, feeling the waves of rain flowing down his sides, soaking his fur.
No, they were not.
But wait, his hyena army still outnumbered the lionesses by a lot and was ready to tear them apart, right?
Err, no. The hyenas ran away. Bloody perfect...
But there was a fire at Pride Rock, wasn't it? Maybe the flames engulfed Simba along with his whole cursed bunch of traitorous females?
No no. It was raining. Once again, he was wrong.
They're all dead, anyway. They're all dead, anyway. They're all... Damn it Mufasa! Were you the one who was preventing the rain from falling for so long on purpose?
He cried out in a vicious, crazed roar, pointing his eyes straight towards the thick, dark ink of clouds in the sky. Then he collapsed to the ground, panting with exhaustion.
As he stared at the navy blue ocean above his head, trying to catch his breath, there was nothing more he could see besides the tall walls of dry grass surrounding him, dancing to and thro to the rhythm of the blowing wind.
Where are you?
His whisper couldn't have been heard by anyone. There was only him, the sky and the waves of grass. And the strange shapes appearing among the bush, summoned by his furious screams. Dark, unrecognizable shapes…
It was over. They came to take him away. To end his humiliation.
Scar...
They called his name and their voice seemed so distant, almost as if a court of judges was preparing to accuse him from above. To sentence him.
Scar! What are you doing here? Are you all right?
The voice was familiar. Odd. Was he dead already? Was he surrounded by his long-deceased ancestors, who demanded him to confess to every sin he'd ever committed? Scar strained his eyes. The tall, gruesome spot in front of him started to regain it's shape. It now resembled someone he'd known pretty well not very long ago...
Zira.
The name that came out of his mouth matched the image appearing in front of his face. The image of a lioness whose character did not correspond with her present expression, as she was looking deeply and truly concerned. Her look made mixed thoughts appear in Scar's heart. To some extent, he was happy to finally find those he was looking for. On the other hand, he'd been expecting them much earlier. When he needed them more than ever.
Where were you?
His words made Zira's face adopt the sense of surprise. She tried to repeat her earlier question, oblivious to the crucial facts that had just taken place. But that only made Scar more angry.
Where, I'm asking? Where were you, you useless females? Are you blind not to see the smoke at Pride Rock? Are you deaf not to hear the sounds of battle?
He wanted to scream, but his weakened body would not let him. Whispers of shock came from all around at once.
What? We were occupied with the hunt! We didn't know that anything was going on!
As those and similar justifications were surrounding him, Zira just kept silent. She knew her mate. She knew there was nothing anyone could say. Not right now- first Scar had to cool down a bit from his overwhelming rage. Zira was conscious that he had something to tell them that would undoubtedly ruin her balance as well, and the time they'd spent together was enough for her to know that in moments such as these they both simply needed some time of silence.
-"Where are your cubs?" – Scar asked her, desperately trying to cover up the humiliated note in his voice with anger.
-"Hiding in the shrub" – she answered shortly and bluntly.
-"Go pick them up. We're leaving."
All of Zira's pridesisters, apart from only herself, immediately started complaining hearing their king's announcement. But the leader of the hunting pack was smarter than that, knowing that it's better not to add fuel to the fire. Her resentful stance was the right thing to do, as she could experience a moment later.
-"I don't understand. Why do we have to go, sire?" – one of the younger lionesses approached Scar, addressing him with a whining tone in her voice. – "We were just celebrating the first rain in months! The drought finally came to an end, and now you say we won't even have the chance to..."
The chance she didn't have was the chance to finish the sentence. Even though Scar was still exhausted, he slapped the lioness on the face, his irritation filling him with extra strength. Everyone became dead silent.
-"We're leaving" – he concluded.
-"Where to?" – Zira asked quickly, not adding any emotion to her question at all. Scar pierced her with his venomous green gaze for a moment, afterwards snorting and making a deeply distasteful face.
-"The Outlands."
He spat the word out of his mouth as if they were the most disgusting thing that existed. Now also his loyal lionesses knew the real meaning of the word 'humiliation'.
AN: So how do you like the beginning? I'm probably going to publish every 3 days, or at least I'll try. But don't worry- I won't keep you waiting for the story to develop.